Continental Breakfast
by marisstar
Summary: B/J pairing AU-- Bella and Angela are a team when it comes to bedding men.. isn't it usually the other way around? Will Bella's chance meeting with Jasper change her life forever?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

She didn't want to breathe. The guilt was starting to be tangible; like a boulder sitting on her chest.  
The air was thick with the stench of lovemaking. Or would you call sex with an almost complete stranger "banging"? She leaned over to pick up his once freshly pressed shirt, which was now crumpled into a ball on the floor. She pushed each of her arms into the sleeves as if she were reaching through a never-ending tunnel. The shirt was much too big for her, the tail of it hung past her butt cheeks. She fastened the third button from the top, so the shirt hung loosely over her breasts.

She padded over to her pack of cigarettes on the floor next to her discarded pants, slid one out and grabbed the lighter from the side of the pack. She attempted to crack the hotel room window; it was stiff from not being opened often. She gathered that this was most likely a non-smoking room; therefore the windows were not accustomed to having their panes stretched. Regardless, after another tug, a rush of cool air blew in; icing her red cheeks. She crouched down to be closer to the fresh air, lit her cigarette and took a deep drag and blew it through the screen. It filtered the smoke and drifted lazily into the night. She wanted to be that smoke, floating into freedom. Despite being toxic, the outside air welcomed it.

He came over and perched on the floor next to her like a gargoyle, only slightly less beautiful. He was completely naked, yet appeared comfortable sitting on his haunches, his body contorting into awkward folds and pinches. His name was Jasper McHale and he was about 6'3 she guessed, unruly blonde hair, green eyes and very tanned skin. He was wiry and had a few white scars crossing his chest. He was also completely hairless everywhere, even his legs and armpits. Bella had been shocked when she had first removed his clothes; she had to fight off the urge to laugh. Why would a man _want_ to be hairless everywhere? It appeared that he had taken great care to see that every inch of his body was waxed. Considering she knew very little about him, he could be a part time Olympic swimmer at his local gym, she didn't know nor did she care. It was at least entertaining to look at.

He was stroking her back lightly like she was a frightened kitten. He had been stopping in town for only one night for some kind of sales conference. She couldn't remember what he sold, but it was definitely something high end. His fern eyes glittering in the dark and his skin gleaming with sweat. The silent was awkwardness creating a palpable force between them. He was most likely one of _those_ guys; the kind of guy who preferred to "love em and leave em". She gave a mental shrug, considering she wasn't planning to stick around long enough to find out. She was still very occupied with the idea that she liked being one of _those_ girls. The type of girl that was best for a one-night stand.


	2. Chapter 2

A stranger answered the door when Bella and Angela got to apartment Jasper had given them directions to. Strange Boy didn't say anything because Jasper came bounding up behind him and said "Bella, hey, come in. Hope you remembered to bring your suits or else you're skinny dipping!" They followed Jasper into the large room, there was a big television in one of those oversized entertainment centers, a big L shaped suede sectional with millions of pillows and a desk with a laptop and office chair.

Jasper said, "So who's this?" Bella piped up, "This is Angela- Ange this is Jasper" Of course Angela already knew his name and the details of her first meeting with this mystery copy guy. They nodded at each other.

Jasper pulled the stranger who had answered the door over to him by his collar, "This is Edward, my bro. He's shy".

Edwards's cheeks filled with cranberry red. He mumbled "Hey."

Jasper continued, "You girls ready to go sit in the hot tub?"

Bella and Angela hurried into the bathroom to change into their suits. They walked to the pool area nearby and soaked in the hot tub, playing some game involving twenty questions. Joked around about many things and talked about their lives in general. Jasper and Edward didn't seem like dangerous guys. Edward certainly was a mouse. Jasper was obviously interested in Bella, he wasn't able to take his penetrating jade colored eyes off of her. They walked back to Edward's apartment slowly enjoying the stars. Angela had tried to get Edward to talk, but he was too shy to carry on any sort of conversation. Angela had given up and started texting one of the guys they had met a few nights before.

Jasper had pushed Bella into a room to "wrestle" once they were back and changed back into regular clothing. Bella didn't have any bad feelings about him, she was actually a little intrigued by the sparkling emeralds under that crazy blonde surfer mop, he seemed to be genuinely interested in her, for more than just her looks. Angela came in the room about fifteen minutes after they had been rolling around exploring each other and teasing with light kisses. She had jumped onto the bed and laid between them, she said excuse #3 (they had established a list for situations just as this one); needing to go home because she had to work early. Bella was hesitant because in just those few minutes alone, she had realized that Jasper might not be so bad. A night with him could be a bit of pure bliss. Jasper looked like he wasn't going to allow her to leave. Perhaps he felt the same way: interested in seeing and feeling more.

After a few minutes of goodbyes; a light kiss on the cheek and a hug to both men, they were off. As Bella and Angela drove into the night, they guessed about whether or not he'd be in touch. Bella voted as 'definitely not', he didn't seem to be the kind of guy who was into girls like her. Angela shot her vote down, "He seemed like he really liked you. I'm sorry, I was just so bored, when he calls you; could you just go by yourself? That Edward guy is so boring. Jasper seems really cool though." Bella had agreed.


	3. Chapter 3

Six months later Bella was working at a corporate credit card company as an account executive. She and Angela hadn't been prowling as much anymore. Both of them had gotten better jobs and had decided that picking up random guys was making too harlot-ish. It turned out, being naughty wasn't so great. They had been sitting in a church parking lot having a cigarette when they came to a final conclusion: they wanted to be valued for more than just sex.

Most of it had been just talk for Bella. She was still very cavalier with her adventures; but had started omitting them in her conversations with Angela.

Angela had chattering on about falling for some guy, Bella was a little jealous, she had been on again off again "fuck buddies" with a guy who thought she was 'way cool' for being so casual. It secretly left her feeling used, even though she had created the situation, boasting that she _preferred _no strings attached relationships or in layman's terms: she laid down a booty call contract. _Love was too complicated_.

She had been sitting at her desk answering emails when she received a text message from an unknown number that read "Hey this is Jasper, remember me?" She had to think back. _Jasper.. Jasper.. hmmmmm..unique name..._ A brief flash of perfectly smooth skin, white teeth and those luxurious green eyes.

She keyed in, "Hi. Yeah. How are you?"

He had wanted to meet up with her later for dinner if she was up to it. She was totally blown away. If she was thinking of the right guy; they had shared a pretty interesting night, but then he had disappeared. She hadn't really put a lot of effort into keeping in touch with him either, but nevertheless, she had thought he had been interested.

They planned to meet at a restaurant, those ones that have all the random stuff tacked to the walls. It was like they had invaded an old person's garage sale and purchased everything in sight. She looked around the crowded restaurant for a moment on tiptoes, caught sight of the tousled blond hair that belonged to the salesman she had met months ago, sitting at the bar. She approached him and tapped him on the shoulder. Jasper turned and grabbed her into a hug, crushing her into him. He let her go and she perched on the bar stool next to him.

He didn't look away from Bella, devouring her with his eyes. They were the same money green eyes that had appraised her several months before. It looked like he might sweep everything off the space in front of them and take her right there.

He looked professional; like a lawyer with very tidy pin striped shirt and slacks. He was a different kind of guy, older, and one she wouldn't have typically looked at twice. Only because she was new to the professional world and older guys still made her feel insecure and immature. _Why would he have been interested in some random chick in a dead end job?_ She had thought when he first started flirting with her in the copy store. She couldn't help but wonder why he had wasted all the effort just to vanish.

She didn't eat with Jasper, instead marveled at how fast this guy shoveled the food into his mouth so they could get out of there. He hadn't removed his grass colored eyes from her velvety brown ones; she wondered what it would be like to lay in that grass. Wondered if it was soft well taken care of grass, or the dry kind when you run across it pokes and tickles your feet.

They talked about their lives and careers. She told him about her new job at the credit card company, the reason she had given up the bright blue polo shirt and khaki's. He updated her on some of his new company ideas and sales ploys. Apparently he had been sent to Montana by his father to train their various other employees the art of sales. He claimed to have thought about her daily. He hadn't kept in touch because he was so far away and didn't want to 'bother' her. She was hardly listening; the reasons for his radio silence really didn't matter to her. She really wasn't dwelling on the fact that he had disappeared. She actually had all but forgotten about him until he had shown up again. She was looking forward to experiencing his REAL motives for inviting her out.

Bella was having a hard time keeping her thoughts focused. This meeting was not about having dinner with an "old friend" or the like. They were not old friends. She surmised that he had not gotten what he wanted from her the last time they were together: It was about sex.

These days it seemed like she was very willing yet reluctant at the same time. She didn't usually start feeling the regret until after she hadn't come, rolled off the bed, got dressed, and left them laying there. In some ways she thought of herself as an unpaid (and usually unsatisfied) whore of sorts.

After he finished his dinner and paid, he suggested going to sit in the hot tub back at his hotel for "old times sake". She thought this suggestion was ridiculous considering not only did she NOT have a bathing suit with her, but they did not have what he was referring to as "old times".

At this point, she was kind of looking forward to getting him naked and playing around. It seemed like he was trying to take his time to "seduce" her, when honestly it really wasn't necessary. She was a little nervous about going back to his hotel room; she still didn't really know him all that well. Though they had spent a few hours together a few months back, she didn't even know his last name. What if she ended up on the news as one of those girls raped and stabbed and left for dead? What would her mother think?  
Bella assumed that Jasper would just end up being another blurry face in her sex life. She had lost count by now. She was usually careful, using protection whenever it was available.

When Bella explained her lack of swimsuit he had joked around about the prospect of skinny-dipping, as he had months before. She threw out the suggestion of simply returning to his room to watch a movie or something. (Most people know that if someone suggests 'watching a movie' it's really code for: let's have sex.)

Neither one of them had truly alluded to what was going to happen. They were no suggestive remarks or playful bantering as they drove to the hotel. He slid the card into the lock and pushed open the door, she walked in and he followed close. As soon as the door clicked he grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against the wall. A lick of panic wet her spine. _Here we go. _

His face loomed closer and then his mouth was on hers, parting her lips forcefully with his tongue. His hands were moving down her sides, to her hips, around to her thighs, lifting her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist and kissed him back, a storm in her mind all the while.

'Don't do this.. don't do this.. this needs to stop.' Bella's head was pounding and her conscience was a tornado in her chest.

_Where was Angela her protector?_ She thought as he had removed her shirt as she unbuttoned his pants. She didn't really want to do this, she barely knew him. Her thoughts were going a million miles a minute while they were undressing each other, and the guilt would surely get worse. It was like a mouse eating away at the cheese all the while a large cat sits in the corner and waits.

"Bella, are you okay?" Jasper had broken the silent replay of the past in her mind, how they had gotten to this point. She had been sitting there with thoughts still spinning out of control and he had been asking her questions. She took another drag on her cigarette debating on what to say next.

She looked over at Jasper, expecting him to say something again, but he was still just sitting there in that awkward position. It was making her feel uncomfortable. It was as if he was trying to read her thoughts, she looked down for a minute to make sure her heart wasn't REALLY on her sleeve, well _his_ sleeve.

After she had finished her cigarette and smashed it out in the windowsill, Jasper said, "Bella, I have to leave tomorrow morning, but I'd like it if you stayed with me tonight."

Bella hesitated, studying her hands, "I don't think so. I think I'm just going to head out."

Jasper's face changed from calm and happy to surprise. "Why can't you stay? I'm only here for tonight." She stood and replied, "You don't even live here Jasper, really; what's the point?"

Jasper said, "I really want to spend some more time with you, I want to know you Bella."

She was finding it hard to believe that she was even considering staying the night with Jasper. She was pondering her own feelings and found them falling short of any explanation. She would prefer to just leave, avoiding the obligation to "cuddle" with this guy. He seemed sincere, but she wasn't feeling confident in the icy thickness of her heart. He may just have the right kind of fire to melt the layers. She kept coming back to the fact that there was nothing there.

It seemed that she was incapable of allowing herself to be loved. Bella Swan was not a complete person; she didn't want this green-eyed gargoyle to figure that out. She would prefer to be immortalized in his sex life as the girl he screwed in a hotel room. That would definitely be a more interesting locker room story.

"Bella, hey, hello, anyone in there?"

Jasper interrupted her dancing thoughts again. She moved then, limping a bit, sitting in that position had made her legs fall asleep. She stumbled to the bed and sat down.

She looked up at him and smiled, throwing caution to the wind.

"Sure I'll stay, continental breakfast right?"

Jasper answered "Oh yeah!" With a big smile, he sprawled out on the bed next to her. She laid back and he wrapped his arm around her waist.

An hour later he was snoring, not loud, scary snoring; just soft noises coming from the back of his throat as he dozed. Bella had been lying there choking on her anxiety; she didn't want to stay here. She was too afraid that staying the night with Jasper might really mean something.

He would have to understand, when if ever, he called her again she would just say she had to get an early start. She moved his arm very slowly, careful not wake him. Edging off the bed, she was able to locate her clothes and purse in the dark.

Jasper's phone was sitting on the hotel dresser; curious, she picked it up. 'New Message' it blinked. She clicked 'read'. It said, "Hey man, have you nailed her yet -Edward?" She felt the creeping frost circle her heart four times and nuzzle itself securely in the middle, like a cat on an armchair. She felt stupid for thinking he had seemed so stricken about her unwillingness to stay the night. She navigated her way to the internal phonebook and found her name "Bella Copy Girl" and deleted the entry.

She dressed quickly and walked to the door, she held her breath and pulled the door open an inch or two. With one more glance over her shoulder towards Jasper, ensuring he hadn't been disturbed. She stepped into the brightly lit hallway; towards the inevitability that she wasn't good for anything other than a one night stand. There would be no continental breakfast.


End file.
